Monthly Archives: August 2015

08.31.15
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Going redneck…

A demolition derby

  
  
It’s kind of one of those things which should be on your bucket list! Several different groups of entrants…they enter the arena and find their place around the circle…5 4 3 2 1…..and they all start backing into each other on a fire department water sprayed arena and they continue to run into each other until there is only 1 car left running.  It is loud, it is dirty and it feels violent.

Kate and Adam went with us….the initial group smash up had them both smiling….which turned slowly into grimaces and finally we were ready to leave.  I think a little too much noise and smashing for my baby dove!

We probably all have our own definition of redneck.  In my dictionary, there is a picture of a demolition derby.

until next time….

08.30.15
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Besties for 40 years

its Sunday night and we have returned to the camper for our last night in Iowa.

  
We parked in Gena’s driveway for the weekend…the 4 of us have been working on her house in order to get it ready to sell….Its a big old house (built in 1903). Amazing old oak woodwork, large colonnades in the front entry which separates the large living room and dining room, original cupboards and woodwork in the kitchen….its just a beautiful old house where you can still feel the period charm.  

He and him-in-law gutted the bathroom…it will be the only room in the house with a modern feel…it was necessary although saying goodbye to the old claw foot tub was tough!

 

 
Gena and I whitened up the kitchen.  I love this picture of our 40 year friendship…although not my best side……thanks, dear!

  
  
We all worked so hard…we went to sleep at each night with pains in muscles we had forgotten we had…but it was an amazing weekend…I needed it.  As much time as we have spent together traveling, I felt this weekend we made a huge emotional reconnection.  Working, chatting, helping each other try to stay out of the emergency room…it felt like love at the highest dose!  thanks for a great weekend, girlfriend!

until next time!!

08.27.15
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You are going to S000000000 thank me for this!

If you know me, you know that I’m into color.  Color gives my happiness a jump start!  I really like bold colors – but not all bold colors – I’m not so into pastels and neutral – well, I think that is what I think I like.  When I watch a redo show on HGTV, I really like the subtle neutral shades with the bright, bold splashes that make it “pop”.  I’ve been known to change the color in my kitchen 4 times because the color just wasn’t right.  He is actually the one who changes the color because I’m a painting slob.  So this app could change his life!

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It’s an IPAD app – I assume it is also available for other tablets.

You take a picture of your room or the wall  you want to paint, duplicate the picture into the app and pick your color or in my case colors…basically once you get set up, you can just go through the pallet, select the color and go through every color of the rainbow plus a few others.  It entertained the painting fiend in my for quite some time last night!

I wasn’t able to find the perfect color….but I have a lot of time to play with it!

Oh…and if you share this amazing app with anyone else, be sure to say Nina sent me.

Until next time….

08.26.15
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Frankincense

I no longer question it!

Frankincense

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I’m almost 3 months post nephrectomy and have an impressive 3 1/2 inch scar that I look at daily.  It’s my lucky scar!!

I had started using Do terra essential oils a few months ago at the insistence of my daughter and my niece.  I started off marveling at how the peppermint opened up my sinus congestion and lavender helped with bug bites.  After doing quite a bit of reading…I decided to blow the budget and buy the expensive stuff.  Frankincense.  Here’s what it has done for me.

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The top of the scar is topical use of two drops of frankincense a day.  The bottom of the scar I leave alone so I could see if it really works.

It really works.

Until next time….

08.26.15
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I had a sister…she was a dog

Actually my first dog was a black cocker spaniel..I don’t remember much about her other than she was kept away from me when I was small because she liked to bite me…apparently.

My sister’s name was Eide

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She was a poodle…registered name…Cher Eide Beau Belle of Greens.  She had a higher standing in the family than I did.  My mother always told me that if she bit me, she would spank me.  ah yes!  Eide and I  felt safe with her in her little cage and whenever we left the house, Eide would go in the cage…willingly…unless it was me putting her in there.  When I was home alone and wanted to go out and play, I would line the cage up against the kitchen cupboards, entice her in with a treat, then push the cage up against the cupboard doors…you see…I was smart enough not to put my fingers close to the cage door to secure it.  I had a love/hate relationship with Eide.

After he and I had been married a few years, we decided to adopt a schnauzer from the people who lived next door to my folks.  Josh was with us many, many years.  I think he lived to be about 17.  Josh was the first word Jenny learned to say.

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After Josh died, Maybelle found us.  She had been dumped on the gravel road in front of our house.  She found a home in the storm drain and refused to leave…so we took her in.  She was a beautiful border collie who loved the neighbor’s chickens.  My mom called over one day and said…Maybelle is having a lot of fun with a toy.  We looked out – the toy was a stupid chicken who somehow wandered into the fenced in area.  Maybelle didn’t have a great life..we kept her outside for the most part.  I really wasn’t wanting another dog so soon..I always felt she was sad.

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Then Brandie came along.  Our friends were moving to Arizona and couldn’t take her so we agreed to love her.

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She was overweight – smiled on command – and was the perfect dog.  I totally fell in love with her – heart and soul.

One day – the Chief of Police in Monroe came to the radio room and asked if anyone wanted to adopt a yellow lab he had.  I bit.  Sierra was ours.  She and Brandie were the canine loves of my life.

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Brandy and Sierra summer 2002 001

Brandi died not too long after we got Sierra.

Sierra was lost…mopey…so we decided to go to the ARL and find Sierra a friend.  We took her along and she finally picked out Frannie….

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We still have Frannie.  She’s an old girl and has calmed down.  I think mostly Sierra may have regretted her choice. Frannie was a handful!

I love this picture…Sierra looks to be saying – uh oh..someones going to be in trouble.

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Which is where Marley came in.  I was browsing on line for dogs.  Like I needed another one…but I wanted to save them all.  I found Marley at a rescue facility in Iowa City.  He was huge and he was blind in one eye.  We decided to go over and meet him and there was no question once I saw him that he was going home with us.

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Sierra, Frannie and Marley also opened up their hearts to living with 5 cats…they all got along beautifully for the most part..they all lived together with us in the house.

All of the dogs taught me something about life – mostly about love….and I still feel an agonizing loss when I think of each one of them.

This post is in honor of National Dog Day.

Until next time….

08.25.15
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Just like the commitment to the “MONDAY” morning diet and exercise..

is that first hour OUT of the dentist’s chair when you totally commit to brushing your teeth and flossing after every meal…while you still remember that one hour IN the dentist’s chair.   I started the process of having a crown replaced in the black hole this afternoon – the black hole being one of the back teeth in my very small mouth.  On the way home, I was 1) berating myself for not learning a lesson in my 59 years and 2) is the amalgam used in dental repair really poisoning me.  If so, I’m doomed because I have an entire mouth full of teeth filled with it.

My rant for the day will focus on DishTV.  I used to bounce back and forth between Dish and Direct because having whichever the current one was costing me a lot more than new service with the other one.  I’m pretty sure it all evens out at the end of the 2 year commitment…but somehow it makes me feel better paying 64 dollars a month even for 12 months rather than the $112 a month.

We have had Dish for several years – we moved the service when we moved to Missouri…soon after the main big box (whatever they call it) stopped working.  So in April, they sent us another one.  This past Sunday, the morning news shows were stopping every 3 or 4 minutes…we couldn’t watch recorded shows or live programming with out a 15 to 30 second stop and start.  I went into rage mode because this receiver/recorder was only 4 months old and crapped out again.

Direct was here this morning – got us hooked up – some nice new features now on Direct TV  – we get premium channels free for 3 months…NFL package free until May of 2016 and saving over $40 a month.

I’m happy now.

Until next time…..

08.24.15
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Starlight in Kansas City…

Every time we drive through the heart of Kansas City we see something else we want to explore.  There are the sports venues which we hear about all of the time.  There’s the Plaza (PLAWZA), Crown Center and BBQ restaurants – too many to name…and then there is the Starlight Theater which is aptly named because it is star entertainment in an open air venue under the stars.  It is extraordinary!

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Ease of ingress and egress is amazing, parking is convenient, comfort, acoustics, selection of beverages and food and the bathrooms!  The first time I used the restroom at Starlight I was in shock.  This is how a women’s restroom should be configured!

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Stalls on both sides in two sections.  There is no waiting in line…

He and I attended our second Chicago concert last week…this time they were with Earth Wind and Fire.

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and the encore – the groups together

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It is worth the drive to KC for the ambiance!

Until next time….

08.24.15
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That’s one way to get rid of me…

But actually it was a fail!  While this kind of dream may seem quite negative….I woke up feeling stronger than I have in a few months….

Memories of the dream are sketchier as the morning awake progresses but hang with me here a bit…

I had a huge argument – yelling argument – with Sheriff V.  In real life he was an asshole I worked for…I was so surprised in the dream that the next day he offered me and 3 co workers a weekend away in a hotel.  I was skeptical.  We checked into the hotel…I was with Lynnette; and, Craig and Marsha roomed together.  I was immediately back at work and walked around the corner and He  (the real husband-correctional officer) whispered that I was being set up.  In order to find out what was going on, I participated in some flirting with the sheriff and then came upon a box containing a brown paper sack and list of the 4 of us employees and what hotel rooms we were in.  I stuck my hand in the sack and it was full of cocaine.  I showed him my hand covered with the cocaine and told him I knew what his plan was and I then called the local newspaper.

….and that is all I remember….I woke up feeing strong, empowered and in control of my life again.

I have had several “therapy” conversations with Jenny as to why I just can’t seem to get back to feeling at peace – I had kidney cancer, I had surgery, the cancer was contained in the kidney and when the kidney was removed…so was the cancer…but I couldn’t seem to get my peace of life back again.

It takes awhile when we encounter struggle in our lives…it takes time to work through it.  Once we think we have dealt with our own particular life struggle, we expect to get a high role on the dice and jump back into it.  It takes time…sometimes we just have to wallow in our struggle until we get more strength to continue the climb.

….and for those of you reading this who know the characters in the dream…and perhaps will disagree with my description of this Sheriff V.  Disagree…that’s your opinion…and by putting it out there in MY blog in black and white – I’ve had the courage to put it out there the way I lived it and stepped up one more rung on my ladder.

Until next time….

08.19.15
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If I had only had time for a picture!

I have been working in the bathroom the last few days.  This work requires a lot of arm movement which has slowed me down because quite frankly, the muscles in my arms, back and shoulders are not what they used to be.  Today they are like limp noodles hanging too close to the fire in my back.  Gawwww!

After consulting with my interior designer friend, Kim, a couple weeks ago, I decided to beach-up the look of my guest bathroom.  I have a lighthouse/beachy theme going in there but it just didn’t HGTV pop!


So I started sanding doors and woodwork and added stripes.


Today I continue the job of priming and painting the doors!  GAWWWWW

I’m a very sloppy painter…just ask him…he is a very clean painter…just ask him.  But he was not prepared for it when I yelled from the bathroom last night.  PHIL…..I NEED YOU NOW!  I wish I had taken a picture of a quarter gallon of paint pooling on the ceramic tile floor but we were both so freaked out we went into salvage what you can mode!  I was most worried about the grout!  HOLY MOTHER…we used a roll of paper towels and once the bulk of the paint was cleaned up, we kept the rest of it from drying with copious amounts of water and a rag…..and sol u Mel …..an amazing Melaleuca product. I had seen full strength sol u Mel clean red fingernail polish from a white carpet.  It works…it really works!

So off now to finish the doors…I have to get it done….Gena and him in law are coming for the weekend…the 4 of us have shared a lot of small spaces together (think closet size bedroom in Pompei).  But everyone appreciates a bathroom door.

until next time…..